THE daily life of the ancient Egyptians is in the spotlight at a museum exhibition.

Life, Prosperity and Health was first staged at the Oriental Museum, in Durham, last year and is being repeated by popular demand.

The exhibition, which opened last week, runs until Monday, December 22, and features many items from the museum's reserve collection of artefacts.

A museum spokesman said: "The exhibition focuses on the people of Egypt, tracing the journey from birth through career options to health and medicine.

"The exhibition brings to life the everyday lives and concerns of ancient Egyptian people.

"The artefacts on display include scribal equipment and papyrus, imported opium containers, military weapons and magical amulets, and there are replica Egyptian costumes and wigs to try on."

The museum is running several events to coincide with the Egypt exhibition.

On Tuesday, October 14, a ten-session course in hieroglyphs will start.

On Saturday, October 18, from 2pm to 4pm there will be a drop-in session when people can learn to write their name in hieroglyphs.

On Saturday, November 1, at 2pm, Karen Exell, of Durham University, will give a talk called An Ancient Egyptian Village Scribe.

And on Saturday, December 6, at 2pm Marcel Maree, of the British Museum, will talk about Egyptian sculptors.

For further details and booking, call the museum on 0191-334 5694.